Residents of Nancefield Hostel were left destitute when the disruptive weekend rains flooded their homes and claimed their belongings.
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The floods affected about 400 families from Nancefield Hostel and the nearby informal settlement.
“It’s painful because we lost all our belongings due to these floods.
“The MEC came and gave us blankets and other things to recover after this ordeal but we are still in our homes,” said Mbuso Mzolo, one of the residents from Nancefield Hostel.
The construction of the bridge on Klipspruit Valley Road which is currently underway is suspected to have contributed to the flooding.
It was established that the construction of the bridge may have impacted on the stream that forced the water to flow towards the hostel.
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Thisha Shange, Nancefield Hostel iNduna said, “We normally face this problem during this time of the year but this time the bridge construction worsened the situation. The dam led the water to the houses along the road.”
City of Johannesburg Housing MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso visited the area over the weekend and on Monday to assist residents affected by the floods.
“After the assessment we had with the affected families they requested that we take some time and look at weather changes before evacuating them and if it rains again then we can gladly evacuate them to the community halls which are safe,” said MMC Mabaso.
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Dlamini Multipurpose Hall was identified as one of the venues that can be used in the future if there is a need to evacuate people from the informal settlement.
“We really need to develop hostels. The living conditions in these areas are no longer conducive for people to live in.
We will be working with the provincial government to improve conditions of hostels across the city,” MMC Mabaso said.
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